Giger: "I Do Not Overvalue Prospects"

Still Is High On Glasnow, Not as High On Meadows, Curious What Shane Baz Could Become

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Corey Giger of The Altoona Mirror joined Tab Douglas Saturday afternoon and they opened up discussing what the Pirates did at the trade deadline and what has happened since then.

"It would be easy for me to be bias about don't give away prospects," said Giger. "But, I've seen so many prospects get to the big leagues and fail, that I do not overvalue propects."

On the Chris Archer deal Corey likes that the Pirates made a move, but he still is a big fan of Tyler Glasnow and thinks he would be a top of the rotation starter.

"I love that the Pirates made a move, did something bold," said Giger. "I just don't like exactly what they did and gave up for Archer."

Corey understands that Pirates fans and maybe even the organization soured on Glasnow, but he still likes what he brings to a starting rotation and still thinks he has what it takes to be a top of the rotation starter in the big leagues.

"Only time will tell (with the deal), we'll see what Archer does, Glasnow does," said Giger.

Part of the reason that the Pirates could make a move like this for Archer was because of the depth they have in the organization in the outfield and with the starting pitching.

"I feel like I'm going to be fighting an upfield battle with this on Glasnow because Pirates fans saw Glasnow suck," said Giger. "Tyler Glasnow is probably the best starting pitcher in minor league baseball and if your listeners think I'm nuts go look up the numbers."

Corey mentioned that he doesn't obsolve Glasnow with what went wrong here in Pittsburgh. He says that he was a goofy kid and wasn't all there in the form of full maturity, but he doesn't think the Pirates did him any favors when he made it to the big leagues.

Corey isn't as huge on Austin Meadows and Shane Baz is still really young with a lot of growth left for him in baseball, but Corey is still a believer in Tyler Glasnow.

They react to the article that Stephen Nesbitt of the Post Gazette wrote on Tyler Glasnow and both agree that a change of scenery may be good for Glasnow.

They also discuss Mitch Keller taking the the next step to AAA and how he struggled earlier, but now looks like the top prospect everyong thinks he is.

"The minor league's are hard, baseball's hard," said Giger. "Mitch Keller made things look easy a good bit of the time at Altoona, but he even had some speed bumps here (in Altoona)."

Corey says you can't judge a prospect pitcher by a couple of starts, but you have to see how they do over hundreds of innings. He still thnks that Keller's ceiling is really high, a 1 or a 2 in a major league starting rotation.

Tab and Corey wrap up the interview discussing Ke'Bryan Hayes and how soon will we see him playing third base with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"Ke'Bryan Hayes is sensational defensively, he is as good as you find in the minor leagues defensively at third," said Giger. "I would put as much money on Ke'Bryan Hayes being a starter in the major league's as anybody."

Listen to Tab Douglas' full interview with The Altoona Mirror's Corey Giger Below: